Introductions
by Book girl fan
Summary: The Rogues come to visit Mt Justice.


"Wally!" Artemis hissed.

"Hmm?" Wally mumbled into his pillow, still mostly asleep. Then the voice registered, and he shot up, bringing the blanket up to cover his bare chest. "Artemis!" he yelped. "What are you doing in my room?!"

She scowled defensively. "Someone had to wake you up!"

"Why did it have to be you?" Wally moaned. He slumped back down onto his bed.

"Heatwave's outside Mt Justice," she told him, deftly avoiding the question. "What would one of your villains be doing here? And how does he know where here is?"

"Cold, probably," Wally said. "The only person who is better at figuring out secrets than Captain Cold is Batman. He must have told Heatwave." Wally frowned. "That's not really like Mick, though, coming here. The Rogues don't like to leave Central."

"Mick?" Artemis asked, one eyebrow raised. "You're on a first name basis with your villains?"

"Hey!" Wally protested, then realised he didn't actually have any grounds to protest, considering he'd spent last weekend beating Hartley and Mick at Mario Kart. "It's...complicated."

Somehow, her eyebrow raised even higher. "Uh huh."

"Just – get out of my room, okay!" He stood up, face burning, and used his super speed to push her out of the room before she could protest. After a moment's thought, he locked the door behind her. If anything could be worse than Artemis coming into his room when he was asleep, it would be Artemis coming in to his room while he was showering.

By the time he was dressed and had come downstairs, the team were crowded around the window, watching the group who had gathered around their base. Wally flashed over and took a look over Robin's shoulder. His eyes widened.

Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, Trickster, Pied Piper, Weather Wizard and Captain Boomerang were all standing outside the base. They were dressed as civilians, outfits nowhere in sight, but Wally could see Cold and Heatwave's guns tucked subtly into their holsters, and had no doubt that the other Rogues were also armed.

"What are they all doing here?" Artemis whispered. Wally glanced over, and noticed she was also armed, bow and quiver in their usual place on her back. All the rest of the team were armed, actually, dressed up and ready for a fight.

"Should we call the Justice League?" M'gann worried at her lip with her teeth.

"They have not attacked so far," Kaldur said calmly, although he too looked concerned. "Perhaps they are waiting for something."

"M'gann," Robin said suddenly. "Can you use your telepathy? What are they thinking?"

Normally, Wally might have protested that invasion of his villains' privacy, but the Rogues never left Central. It was their home, and if they were leaving, it had to be serious. Privately, he was dreading the thought that his Rogues could have been controlled, and made to leave their city.

M'gann concentrated, and Wally took a moment out of his worrying to admire how cute it looked on her face. Hey, he was a teenage boy! There was never a bad time to admire a pretty girl.

"Hello Megan!" She slapped her forehead lightly, voice bubbling with happiness. "They're worried about Wally! They just want to know if he'll be safe with us."

"They're villains! Why do they care about a hero at all?" Artemis asked.

Kaldur frowned thoughtfully. "It does seem odd for them to care about Kid Flash's safety. Are you sure that is their motive?"

Wally cringed. Knowing his Rogues, it probably was. On the one hand, it was good to know that the Rogues were not being mind-controlled or blackmailed, but on the other, having his villains come by to check up on him was embarrassing!

He felt Robin's shoulder nudge him and scowled. The brat was probably enjoying this. Just wait until next time Daddy Bats came down on him, see if Wally would help him out then.

"They are bad guys!" Superboy said loudly, bringing Wally's attention back and breaking Artemis, Kaldur, and M'gann out of their argument. "We're heroes, we fight the villains. We don't need to talk about this."

"I agree," Artemis said, shooting a look at Kaldur. "They shouldn't be here."

Kaldur sighed. "Very well. We will go out to meet them, but we do not attack immediately. If they are here just to check on Kid Flash, we do not need to fight them."

Argument settled, Superboy and Artemis headed for the closest exit, followed more reluctantly by M'gann.

Wally went to follow, but Kaldur stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Kid Flash," he said seriously. "These are your villains, you know them best. Do we need to call the League?"

Wally' mouth dropped slightly. He wasn't used to anyone treating him like this – like he was some kind of authority, not just a kid with a stupid sense of humour, in way over his head. Not that he didn't try to encourage that image, because he totally did! Not the 'way in over his head' bit, but the rest of it, because being serious all time only worked for Batman. But it was nice that someone was actually asking for his advice on something. "Uh, no," he finally managed to spit out. "They're in civvies, so they probably aren't here to rob something. Maybe they're just on holiday?" Kaldur didn't look convinced. "Besides, they have a code. They don't kill."

"Hopefully, no fight will be necessary at all, but if it does, that is good to know." Kaldur nodded at Wally. Wally returned it, still getting over his shock at having been consulted at all.

Robin cackled behind him, making Wally reflexively jump and speed away. "Dude! Don't do that!"

"You should have told him your Rogues are just here to check on their Baby," Robin said with a grin, completely ignoring Wally.

Wally groaned. "Don't remind me. Is it too much to hope that we'll just fight them and they'll go home?"

Robin just laughed as he faded back into the shadows. Wally sighed and headed after the others. Yeah, he was probably right. Things were never that easy.

As soon as he was outside, he was proved right again. The easy option would have been for the team and the Rogues to have talked it out already, and the Rogues ready to go back to Central. Or even better, already back at Central, and they'd have no chance to embarrass him at all!

But of course, things were never that easy. Instead, both groups had weapons drawn and were facing off with aggressive expressions.

"Kid Flash," Captain Cold drawled, barely sparing a glance his way. "Ice of you to finally join us."

"Kind of slow for a kid with super speed, isn't he?" the Trickster giggled.

"Stop talking," Superboy growled. "Time to fight."

"Ah, guys?" Wally scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "You might not want to do that."

Artemis rolled her eyes, bow still tensed and ready to fire. "They're the bad guys, Kid Idiot. This is what we do."

Their enemies exchanged glances.

Wally noticed and face palmed. "Guys, seriously? Can we not do this?"

The rest of the team shot him strange looks. All apart from Robin, who was cackling in a way that could be mistaken for his usual mission attitude, but Wally knew from experience it was more in anticipation for what was about to come.

"Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you."

As though his words were a starting signal, the Rogues began to attack. Despite their civilian attire, they had clearly come prepared, and the fight raged on for several minutes as each side struggled to gain the upper hand. Wally and Robin were faring best, having had experience with the Rogues, while the rest of the team were much less fortunate. Artemis was in particular trouble, having lost her bow to a blast of Cold's cold gun, and was reduced to her fists and her wits.

Superboy, frustrated at their lack of progress, roared in rage, grabbing a nearby boulder and throwing it at the Trickster.

"No!" Wally leapt in front of Trickster, twirling his hands at superspeed to create a funnel of wind, deflecting the heavy rocks. Wally glared at Superboy, still standing protectively in front of Trickster. "They're human, Superboy! They won't heal like you or I do!"

Superboy scowled. "They're villains. We stop the villains, that's what we do."

"We stop them, we don't kill them!"

Pied Piper took advantage of their distraction to blast them with his sonic waves, creating an opportunity for Trickster to set off one of his trick bombs while they were still grabbing at their ears. It exploded, showering both boys in clingy goop, which only clung harder when they tried to wipe it off.

"That looks like a sticky situation!" Trickster cackled.

Superboy growled, trying and failing to pull the goop off him with his super strength.

On the other side of the field, Heatwave's heat gun was doing an excellent job of keeping M'gann away from the action. Wally temporarily gave up trying to get out of the goop to watch M'gann, actually concerned for his team for the first time in this battle.

"Kaldur!" he shouted. "M'gann needs help!"

Kaldur looked around, then started racing towards M'gann. Out of nowhere, Weather Wizard appeared, winds already starting to whip around him. "Not so fast, kid." His eyes glowed as the storm grew, breeze knocking Kaldur away from M'gann even as it made the flames around M'gann grow bigger. Kaldur tried to use his water bearers, but they were caught up in the storm.

"Robin!" Wally called desperately. His team was getting beaten, and this was getting more dangerous by the second. "A little help over here!"

"Little busy here!" Robin grunted. Boomerangs and birdarangs were flying around him, sometimes crashing into the Mirror Master images that surrounded him. Suddenly, one of the Mirror Masters reached out, hitting him in the back of the head. Robin fell to the ground, moaning softly.

"Robin!" Wally screamed. He frantically vibrated his arms, trying to escape the goop and go to his friend, but it was resisting him. Superboy's super strength wasn't having any luck against it either. He looked for someone else to help, but M'gann was stilling pinned by Heatwave, Kaldur was trying to fight Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang had turned his attentions to Artemis, leaving her trying to defend herself against his boomerangs as well as blasts from Cold's cold gun.

His eyes went again to Robin, still lying on the ground. This had to stop.

"Captain Cold!" Wally cried out. This was a long shot, but he was out of other options. This fight wasn't fun anymore. "You need to stop!"

"And why would I do that, Kid?" Cold asked, lazily shooting ice blasts at Artemis.

"Because you're going to hurt my team!" His voice cracked in the middle, much to his embarrassment, but it made Cold look over to him.

"Rogues!" he called sharply. "Bring it in!"

The Rogues acknowledged the order, angling their fights so they were coming back towards Cold. Wally breathed a sigh of relief as Heatwave retreated, leaving M'gann more room to move. Mirror Master just picked up Robin and headed straight toward Cold, dodging the other fights on the way.

Once they were all within hearing distance, Cold called out again. "Alright, Kid! You stop, we'll stop."

"Stop fighting!" Wally immediately called. He looked over at Kaldur. "They'll stop, just stop fighting them. You don't even have to put down your weapons, just stop fighting." He glanced over at Cold to check this, and was given a subtle nod.

Kaldur hesitated, but the wind around him dropped slightly. He disarmed his water bearers, placing them back in their sheaths. M'gann lowered herself to the ground, just as Heatwave turned off his heat gun, allowing the fire to die out. Even Artemis and Superboy stopped fighting, though they still stood tense and ready to begin again. The Rogues lowered their weapons, moving back to gather around Cold.

Mirror Master was the last to follow, taking the time to place Robin carefully on the ground right in front of Wally. "He'll be fine," Mirror Master told him. "He's taken worse knocks before, you know that. Probably just a mild concussion." He moved back to the group of Rogues.

Wally sighed heavily. "Good." He reached up to rub at his goggles, but his hands stopped partway there. "Uh, can you get me out of this stuff now?"

Trickster snickered, but threw a water bomb in their direction. The liquid inside instantly dissolved the gloop, leaving Wally and Superboy covered in tiny particles of gloop-dust, but finally able to move again.

Wally immediately used his speed to check on his team, flashing around to each of them in a micro-second as he checked them for injuries, before coming to a stop crouching in front of Robin.

As Mirror Master had said, Robin was dazed, but fine. In a few minutes, he'd probably be able to stand, and they could take him inside to the medbay for a better check. With that worry gone, Wally could finally relax. "Okay, so we've fought, you've tried to kill my friends, now will you go home?"

"Sure, kid." Cold smirked at him. "Just one last thing." In one swift movement, he pointed the cold gun at Artemis and pulled the trigger, encasing her in a block of ice.

Wally knew it wasn't lethal; the Rogues didn't kill, and definitely didn't kill kids. He could even see Artemis' eyes moving behind the ice. Still, he groaned. "Uncle Len, did you have to?"

"She called you an idiot," Mick replied for him, frown settling on his face. "You aren't an idiot. Your team should know that."

Len glanced across at his partner, then turned back to Wally. "Your team should respect you, or you can't trust them. If you can't trust them, you're going to get yourself killed."

Kaldur made to step forward, but paused as Len lifted his cold gun, engine whirring to life. "Captain Cold, we do respect Kid Flash. He is a valued member of our team."

"You insult all the valued members of your team?" Len drawled.

Kaldur hesitated, stuck between loyalty to his team and admitting that Artemis had been in the wrong.

Superboy solved his dilemma. "Artemis only insults Kid Flash. No one else."

Len smirked. It wasn't a nice expression. "Not good enough."

"We can't just let anyone have our Baby," Axel said seriously. "They might not look after him properly."

Suddenly Wally was very glad Robin wasn't fully conscious yet. "I can look after myself! I'm not a kid anymore, guys. And I'm definitely not a baby."

Hartley smiled at him, sickly sweet. "You'll always be our Baby Flash."

"Kid Flash is part of our team, and a team looks out for each other," Kaldur told the other Rogues, ignoring Hartley and Wally's exchange. "We may not have done well with that so far, but we will improve."

Len looked straight at Wally. "Kid. Do you really like this team? And think it's worth sticking around?"

"Because if you don't, we'll make sure you don't have to stay," Mick added. "You don't have to stay anywhere you don't want to be, especially with people who don't like you."

Wally returned the look determinedly. "Yes. I like this team, Uncle Len, and they like me too. Yeah, Artemis and I fight, but no one gets on with everyone." He turned to include Mick in his look as well. "I'm staying."

Len paused to consider. "Alright."

"Really?" Wally fistpumped the air. "Yes!"

"You're on probation," Len told the rest of the team. "Six months, and we'll be back. Better be ready to give us a better fight by then. Rogues!" With a single shout, the Rogues came together, disappearing into the reflective surface of the ice Artemis was still trapped in.

As soon as the Rogues had disappeared, Kaldur turned to the team. "Superboy, can you take Robin to medbay?

Superboy nodded, picking the smaller boy up and striding off.

Kaldur turned to Wally. "What is the safest way to retrieve Artemis from the ice?"

"Uh..." Wally actually had no idea. He and Barry didn't usually stay around after the fights to see what the police did to defrost people, and any time he had been hit by the ice, he could just vibrate to heat himself off. "I could try vibrating, see if I can melt the ice like that." He'd never tried it with any other person before though. "Or we could just leave it. On that setting, it will melt in an hour or two, which, hey, gives us a whole two hours without having to listen to Artemis!"

Kaldur frowned at him. "When I told Captain Cold that we would improve our teamwork, I was not bluffing. We can be a better team, and that means not insulting each other. You and Artemis need to find a way to get along."

"But Artemis was doing it just then, right before the fight!" he protested.

"And now she is trapped in a block of ice."

Point. Alright, he could try to get on with Artemis. For the team if nothing else, because in six months they would be having a rematch, and he did not want to lose to the Rogues again. Hartley would never let him live it down.


End file.
